What gaming laptop should I get? $1500 budget

[Gaunern]

1.Budget?
$1500

2.Size?
15.6”

3.Resolution?
1920x1080

4.Hard Drive?
500GB+

5.RAM?
8GB

6.Processor?
i5 or i7**

7.Graphics?
Nvidia 860+ (Nvidia for Steam OS availability )

8.Battery Life?
Minimum 2 1/2 hours, going to be plugged in most of the time so it's not a huge issue

9.Color?
Black/Silver

10.OS?
Windows 7 (i know it’s a pain but so is Windows 8, MIGHT go for Windows 8 if the laptop fits all other specifications), maybe adding Steam OS at a later date.

11.Use?
Gaming*, Youtube, Work (Google Drive), Maybe streaming

12.Intended length of use?
Long as possible (depending on future budget and increase in technology quality)

13.New or used?
Preferably new, maybe used

14.Residence?
South Australia, Australia

15.Websites considered?
Metabox.com.au
Dicksmith.com.au
Msy.com.au

*Games that I play to play are (mostly) Team Fortress 2 and (rarely) Warframe
**I’ve heard that games can be run without a problem with i5 but I would like to be sure about this

Overall, I need high FPS and reliability on a low-medium budget. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions as this will be my first gaming laptop to myself and i am quite excited. I thank any and all readers and responses. I also base my choice on look, it's why I included color (sorry!).

 

[theclouds]

It sounds like you are looking for a desktop replacement for gaming. There is a huge market for the portable gaming market:
http/www.xoticpc.com/ or http/www.falcon-nw.com/

Some considerations:
You'll be sacrificing battery life which I understand is important for laptop users. The additional heat generated may also affect the life of the components as well. Some of my clients opt to use an external cooling pad - not one plugged into the USB of the laptop because that would just generate more heat. There are plenty of USB to outlet adapters on the market.

Branding:
I stopped looking at branding ages ago. My priorty is first spec, price, then warranty. Some people like to switch the last two.

Edit: I just saw your mention of color preference. There are plenty of color options at the vendors I listed.

 

[Gaunern]

It sounds like you are looking for a desktop replacement for gaming. There is a huge market for the portable gaming market:
http/www.xoticpc.com/ or http/www.falcon-nw.com/

Some considerations:
You'll be sacrificing battery life which I understand is important for laptop users. The additional heat generated may also affect the life of the components as well. Some of my clients opt to use an external cooling pad - not one plugged into the USB of the laptop because that would just generate more heat. There are plenty of USB to outlet adapters on the market.

Branding:
I stopped looking at branding ages ago. My priorty is first spec, price, then warranty. Some people like to switch the last two.

Edit: I just saw your mention of color preference. There are plenty of color options at the vendors I listed.

Thank you for replying, but I am in Australia and both websites suggested do not ship overseas. I will look into a desktop replacement though and I hope it will narrow my search.

 

[dasulman]

xoticpc ships worldwide .
if you're bent on those sites then this: http/www.msy.com.au/viconline/notebooks/13424--asus-r552jk-cn203h-i7-4700hq-8gb-1tb-156fhd-ips-blu-ray-writer-win81-64bit-4g-gtx850m.html
if not then there's a thicker option: http/www.affordablelaptops.com.au/contents/en-us/d71_msi-gx60-laptop-notebook.html

 

[Gaunern]

xoticpc ships worldwide .
if you're bent on those sites then this: http/www.msy.com.au/viconline/notebooks/13424--asus-r552jk-cn203h-i7-4700hq-8gb-1tb-156fhd-ips-blu-ray-writer-win81-64bit-4g-gtx850m.html
if not then there's a thicker option: http/www.affordablelaptops.com.au/contents/en-us/d71_msi-gx60-laptop-notebook.html

My mistake, thank you.

 

[Gaunern]

ASUS ROG G750JM-DS71. http/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IKF2H12?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B00IKF2H12&linkCode=xm2&tag=thepcgamhar-20
ASUS ROG G750JM-DS71 packs the power of Intel core i7-4700HQ quad core 2.4 GHz-3.4 GHz processor like the rest of the ROG laptops from this latest series. So in terms of processor performance, this laptop is no different from its more expensive counterparts. For those of you don’t know, this is one of the best processors that you can get in a mobile system. In terms of RAM, ASUS ROG G750JM-DS71 has an adequate amount that should promise a smooth performance during multitasking or rendering graphics and videos. 12 GB DDR3 is still more than the standard 8 GB that you get in an average multimedia laptop. To tell you the truth, there is no game at the moment that has a requirement of 12 GBs of RAM. Therefore, from RAM point of view, you are quite covered for a long period of time.
• The most significant difference between ASUS ROG G750JM-DS71 and its more expensive versions is the graphic card. This laptop features NVIDIA GTX 860M 2 GB GDDR5 graphic card, which is the weakest among the graphic cards featured in the other two superior models of this series of ROG. However, like I said earlier, that does not mean that this graphic card cannot deliver an excellent performance. In fact you should be able to enjoy almost all of the latest games at high graphics while maintaining a decent 50-60 FPS. This graphic card may suffer a little in terms of FPS at ultra settings, but it should be able to handle that as well on some latest Intel Core i7-4700HQ 2.4Ghz (Turbo 3.4 GHz)
Price:
12 GB DDR3
• 1 TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
• 17.3-inch screen, GeForce GTX 860M 2GB
• Windows 8.1, 3.5-hour battery life

Thank you, I will consider this option before buying.